Wednesday, October 28, 2009

I had earlier shared some
concerns and some news arising out of Piracy – which is a war like act
committed by private parties (not affiliated with any government) that is
engaged in acts of robbery and/or criminal violence at sea. The term can
include acts committed in other major bodies of water or on a shore. Somalian
Pirates continue to be in news - after the biggest seizure of super tanker
Sirius Star, the thugs have reportedly captured a yacht with a British man and
woman aboard, with the aim of holding them to ransom.

The pirates are no longer
wayward thugs and goons – now they run sophisticated operations using the
latest hi-tech equipment such as satellite phones and GPS. They are also
heavily armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. The pirates are known
to receive tip-offs from contacts at ports in the Gulf of
Aden. They use speedboats with very powerful outboard motors to
approach their target. Sometimes the speedboats are launched from much larger
"mother ships" on the high seas. A matter of grave concern for the
Shipping industry and to the Insurers, the IMB says there has been an
"unprecedented increase" in Somali Pirate activity in the first nine
months of 2009. So far, there have been 147 incidents in the waters off the
Somali coast and in the Gulf of Aden, compared
with 63 for the same period last year. A total of 533 crew members have been
taken hostage. The IMB also says the pirates appear to have "extended
their reach, threatening not only the Gulf of Aden and east coast of Somalia, but also the southern region of the Red Sea, the Bab el Mandab Straits and the East Coast of
Oman".

Whilst some may not have a
passing attention to this, here is something back at home which worried all.

Bharatiya Rail (Indian Railways)
is one of the largest and busiest rail networks of the World, transporting over
18 million passengers and more than 2 million tonnes of freight daily. It is
really an amazing network, traversing the length and breadth of the country
covering 6,909 stations over a total route length of more than 63,327
kilometres. From introduction in 1853, IR has come a long way with 16 Zones.
Each zonal railway is made up of a certain number of divisions, each having a
divisional headquarters. There are a total of sixty-seven divisions.

Though there have been some
terror activities aimed at disrupting the network and threatening the lives of
the commuters, the one that happened to Rajdhani Express on Tuesday (27/10/09)
at a nondescript station near Jhargram is absolutely perplexing. This is 155
kms off Kolkatta and closer to Antapani jungle.

Hijacking of aircrafts have been
known. But somebody taking control of such a big train with Engine and many
bogies and holding passengers to ransom is rather unthinkable but plain truth.
In the drama at Banstala in the Jhargram-Kharagpur section, the Maoists and
their supporters wrote the script, cocking a snook at the Railways under Mamata
Banerjee and the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government and the Odishan Govt on
tenter hooks. The Rajdhani Express was intercepted by a 1,500-strong mob at
2.35 pm and its driver and his assistant were taken hostage. Armed men then
called the shots, demanding among other things the release of Chhatradhar
Mahato of the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities
(PCAPA) — the seizure of the train came a day after the PCAPA announced it
would resort to an armed struggle to achieve its goals. After several tension
filled hours, at 10.10 pm, the Rajdhani Express finally resumed its journey
ending the ordeal of panic stricken relatives of passengers.

This is a national shame and the
issue will have political ramifications. This should not be forgotten as days
pass by. Those at the helm of affairs need to rein in things and run Govt
benefitting the common man.

In Europe, Cereal brand Quaker
has begun using electric train services to ship goods from its factory in Cupar, Scotland,
to its depot in Lutterworth, Leicestershire as part of move to reduce carbon
emissions. Elsewhere France & Italy have inked agreement to link up
Alps rail 'motorway' which has been transporting truck-trailer units on low bed
rail wagons between France and Turin, a distance of around 175 kms with round
trips daily.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Dear (s)Not many of you would be following up the Champions League as it entered its next phase - with an interesting super over result. Lot happened at Pakistan after the Champions Trophy. ----- but before all that the word in the caption "triskaidekaphobia" - a noun meaning ‘fear or phobia concerning the number 13’. It might strike one to ask what is there in a number. This word is from Greek tris meaning 3 and deka meaning "10" + phobos: fear. The fear of no. 13 is number commonly associated with bad luck in Western culture. Though the fear is traced back to olden days, the word appears to be of recent origin reportedly coined during 1911 and having appeared in New Yorks time article in 1953. Triskaidekaphobia also may be related to Norse mythology, which tells how the god Odin invited eleven of his closest friends to a dinner party at his home in Valhalla, only to have his party crashed by Loki, the god of evil and turmoil, thus giving a total of 13 people. Past disasters linked to the number 13 hardly help triskaidekaphobics overcome their affliction. The most famous is the Apollo 13 mission, launched on April 11, 1970 (the sum of 4, 11 and 70 equals 85 - which when added together comes to 13), from Pad 39 (three times 13) at 13:13 local time, and struck by an explosion on April 13. It is also widely circulated that seemingly ingrained case of triskaidekaphobia, forced managers to impose the bizarre, '13-free' numbering system on its flights. Some famous historic persons are reportedly triskaidekaphobes which would include Napoleon, Mark Twain, Richard Wagner and Franklin Roosevelt.One would like to pooh pooh this as superstition and not a notion based on reason, knowledge or experience. There is yet another phobia combining the no. 13th with day Friday and it is called paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.Why bad luck should be associated with a common week end day is ......... some have tried to list out events of Hurricane Charlen in 13/8/2004; the storm that struck Buffalo, NY on 13/10/2006; Continental Flight 3407 crashin ginto a house at NY on 12/02/09, Asteroid 2004 , Andes Plane crash of 1972 and hurricane sinking manhy ships at Havana Cuba way back in 13/2/1733. Lot can be read into coincidences !!!Coming back to my pet topic lot more is being forced into the match between Pak and Aussies - the match most Indians wanted Pakis to win. (Read my earlier article : when Indians wanted a Paki win here)Chasing a modest 206 for a victory and easy entry in to Semis, Aussies started well, were 59 for 2 and cruised to 150 and were 157 for 3 in 36 overs which meant 49 runs in around 80 balls with 7 wickets in hand. The end result had Punter chewing all his nails due to the improbable aussie middle order failture but scampering home off the last ball. That match effectively ended the Indian challenge securing a first round elimination. Pak qualified well but succumbed to Kiwis in the next match.In cricket crazy Nations, lot more is read and understood. There were incendiary report somewhere that Paki loss was much intentional to keep India out. This had no credence but germ perhaps had been planted. This was picked up by Pak’s hyperactive media big on headlines. The head of Pakistan's national parliamentary committee on sports has accused the team of deliberately losing to Australia and called for changes in the national cricket board. It had its repercussions even in the Pak Parliament and the captain Younis promptly, in a temperamental rage announced his resignation. To many Younis was the most fascinating personality at the Champions Trophy, endearingly honest, open and refreshing. Broadly speaking, he was thought to be a good, calming influence on the side. That message seems not to have reached Pakistan. In a game which is to be fought on field, Pak always had its share of controversies off the field also. Remember the death of Bob Woolmer, the coach during the World Cup at West Indies and mysteries that shrouded his death. There was a shoot out at the Lankan team which pushed them to abysmal depths. Efforts were made to overcome all this but whatever was achieved by the recent commendable performances in the T 20 WC and Champions trophy, seem to be going down in the drain once again.With regards - S Sampathkumar

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Nobel
Awards captured headlines everywhere and here is something which is not
commonly seen on papers. More so on the
Nobel Peace Prize which is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4
million) and that will be handed over in
Oslo on Dec.
10. Incidentally with so much
clamouring, do you remember the winner last Year ?

In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that
the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or
the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction
of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."
Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by Swedish institutions, he
said the peace prize should be given out by a five-member committee elected by
the Norwegian Parliament. Sweden
and Norway
were united under the same crown at the time of Nobel's death. The committee
has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel's guidelines, expanding the prize
beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and
climate change.

The Nobel
Peace Prize has been awarded 89 times to 119 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and
2008 – 96 times to individuals and 23 times to organizations. The list of organisational recipients include
some who have received it more than once - the Red Cross in 1917, 1944 and 1963, the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees in 1954 and
1981; that means 96 individuals and 20
organizations have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Of the 96 individuals
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 12 are women. The first woman to win was Bertha von Suttner.

Though there
cannot be any comparisons – when
Ramakrishnan Venkatraman, the Tamil Nadu-born Indian won the Nobel Prize for chemistry becoming
the fourth in the list of Indian-born
scientists (the first three being C V Raman, S Chandrasekhar, and Har Gobind
Khorana) the first glimpse that hit the headlines was ‘TN-born American bags
Nobel, with humility’ — In portraying
it, he said “Don’t look at the Nobel
Prize as the recognition of your excellence. Your work is more valuable; more
profound” . Perhaps words of a noble
man discounting the value of the prize in constrast to many who flaunt their
award at their compatriots compatriots and build an awesome brand for the Prize
and for themselves.

That was
slightly deviant from the topic - The nobel peace prize is no stranger to
controversy. In 2009, a record 205
nominations were received. The Committee
keeps the nominations secret and asks that nominators do the same. Over time
many individuals have become known as "Nobel Peace Prize Nominees",
but this designation has no official standing. Nominations from 1901 to 1955, however,
have been released in a database.Though he never won, in 1939 the nomination
for the peace prize was Adolf Hitler, nominated by a member of the Swedish Parliament. Others
include Joseph Stalin and Benito
Mussolini. But it should be seen in the light
that nomination requires only support
from one qualified person, and hence all
nominations do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Nobel committee
itself. Obama has exalted admiring
Gandhi and some of Gandhi’s professed followers – Martin Luther King Jr.,
Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi had been conferred with the coveted
award. But not Mohandas Karamchand. The omission has been particularly widely
discussed including public statements by various members of the Nobel Committee. The Committee
has confirmed that Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally,
a few days before he was murdered in January 1948. The omission has also been publicly regretted by later members
of the Nobel Committee. In 1948, the year of Gandhi's death, the Nobel
Committee declined to award a prize on the ground that "there was no
suitable living candidate" that year.
When Dalai Lama was awarded the prize in 1989, the Chairman of the
Committee had said that this was in part a tribute to the memory of Gandhi. One
cannot but think that the Nobel committee in those days was influenced by
imperialists in denying him the peace prize as he was a big threat to
imperialism. Many believe that Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize, but he was actually awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature. In fact,
Churchill was nominated both for the Literature and for the Nobel Peace Prize.

With this
background, and going by the guiding principles, the Committee stunned
observers with its choice especially with the citation for his work in Nuclear
weapons elimination and international diplomacy. The chairman of the Committee Thorbjorn
Jagland said it had considered what Obama had done during the year - and that
the prize was not for what Obama might do in the future, for instance in Afghanistan and
Obama becomes the 90th winner of the award. It is a plain fact that Obama has
only served nine months of his presidency, the deadline for nomination was Feb
1 and Obama was sworn in on Jan 20th.

Speculation
before the 2009 prize announcement had centred on Zimbabwe's
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, freed Colombian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt
as well as dissidents in China. The first ever winners were Jan Henry Dunant
of Switzerland and Frederic Passy of France. Dunant was the founder of the International
Committee of the Red Cross and Frederic was the founder and President of French Peace Society.

In a
statesmanly manner, Obama has responded
to his selection stating “ I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the
decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear, I do not view it as a
recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American
leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations. To be
honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the
transformative figures who've been honored by this prize, men and women who've
inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of
peace”

If you still
remember the Q in the first para : The 2008 winner was Martti Ahtisaari, born on June 23, 1937 in
the city of Viipuri, then still part of Finland. The former president of Finland was a
UN special envoy at the Kosovo status process negotiations and awarded for his
role in resolving international conflicts.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Some common photos that we see every day on road. I had shared my
concerns earlier also on this.

படங்கள் நன்றி : தினமலர் நாளிதழ்

There is a very disturbing news report on
papers today. “Yesterday was a sad day - 11 persons were run over by trains in
a single day – majority of them were talking on mobiles while crossing railway
tracks in Chennai division occurring at in Korukkupet, Gummidipoondi, Erode,
Pothanur, Morappur, Athur, Tambaram (two cases), Chromepet, Annanur and BasinBridge
”

Human lives are invaluable and the statistics
of Railway Police is alarming. More than 525 have died in the city since
January this year being knocked down by trains while crossing railway and it is
1050 under Chennai division. The Authorities pathetically describe that despite
efforts to create awareness, most of the deaths are due to commuters crossing
track while talking on mobile phones. Was it a call from hell that was
beckoning them ?

After the introduction of first cell phone in India in 1994
the users have multiplied in great numbers and there is impending need for
inculcating the much needed discipline in usage. Today’s youth are inherently
impatient. Irrespective of age – you find people talking on mobiles – whilst on
road, driving, crossing and whilst doing anything else. The first thing most of
the drivers do immediately on stopping at a signal is taking out the mobile and
checking their calls / messages. May be every body is dealing with millions
every minute ! BUT ……

In London Motorists who use a hand-held mobile
phone or fiddle with a satellite-navigation system while driving could be
jailed for up to two years. Prosecutors have said they could be charged with
dangerous driving in a dramatically tougher approach to such offences. Even
those caught fiddling with an MP3 music player or texting on a mobile at the
wheel could also face the charge.

There are not tough laws in the country but
more than Laws it is the attitude of people which can save precious lives. Lots
lies in store to be achieved and let not life be cut short by a talk.

Please take an oath that YOU will never use a
mobile – whilst on road – whether driving or walking !!!!! Tell all your
friends also.

Chidambaram, located at 11°23′58.87″N
79°41′37.04″E11.3996861°N 79.6936222°E, a municipality in Tamil Nadu and taluk
hq of Cuddalore is famous for its ancient and renowned shrine of Lord Nataraja
in the form of a cosmic dancer. There are times when places get more famous due
to individuals – today is one for it is the birth place of the winner of the
2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Venkatraman Ramakrishnan.

This year's three laureates, will share the 10 million
kronor ($1.4 million) award, for generating three-dimensional models that show
how different antibiotics bind to ribosomes and one amongst them has an Indian
connection. The Nobel Prize is a Swedish & International monetary prize,
established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred
Nobel. It was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine,
Literature, and Peace in 1901. The Nobel Prizes in the specific disciplines
(Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature) and the Prize in
Economics, which is commonly identified with them, are widely regarded as the
most prestigious award one can receive in those fields.

On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and
testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes, the
Nobel Prizes. 100 Nobel Prizes in Chemistry have been awarded since 1901. It
was not awarded on eight occasions. It is stated that if none of the works
under consideration is found to be of the importance indicated, the prize money
shall be reserved until the following year. If, even then, the prize cannot be
awarded, the amount shall be added to the Foundation's restricted funds.
Moreover no prizes were awarded during the two World Wars.

Though an American now, India has reasons to celebrate this
Nobel moment when Science salutes the work of Venkataraman
Ramakrishnan, who painstakingly, atom by atom,
decoded the structure of ribosomes those tiny worksheds in each cell where life
is built. Ribosomes are small granules, about 20 nanometers in width (1
nanometer = one billionth of a meter) found in all cells. Using the code
carried by DNA molecules, they build proteins. Dr
Venkatraman ‘Venky’ Ramakrishnan, 58, who had his early education in the temple
town of Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, and Vadodara, Gujarat, moved out to US. Dr Ramakrishnan follows in the footsteps of Subramanyan
Chandrasekhar, who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1983, and the country’s
first Nobel laureate, Sir C V Raman, who won the same prize in 1930.

Dr Ramakrishnan is currently affiliated with the MRC
Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge,
UK. He shares
the prize with Dr Thomas Steitz of Yale University,
Connecticut, and Dr Ada Yonath of Weizmann
Institute of Science in Israel.
“This year’s three Laureates have all generated 3D models that show how
different antibiotics bind to the ribosome. These models are now used by
scientists in order to develop new antibiotics, directly assisting the saving
of lives and decreasing humanity’s suffering,” the Nobel citation explained.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Dear Friends, After the Champions Trophy which was a 50 over format involving 8 nations, there is more in store for cricket fans – the Champions League. The 2009 edition features 12 teams and there would be 23 matches in all. This tournament is sponsored by Airtel and is a competition between clubs from India, Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies. This League is chaired by Lalit Modi, who is the Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League and Vice-President of the BCCI. As you would remember, this was launched in 2008 after the success of the IPL and was to have different teams thence. The first edition was set to happen during Sept – Oct 2008 in India. There were many teething troubles and was postponed to December. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai on 26th Nov had its impact on this and was cancelled subsequently. Now in its new avatar, this tournament carries whopping Rs.170 crores of money. In the present edition there would 12 teams : Top 3 teams of IPL, top 2 teams of Australia, England and South Africa and top teams from West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Can you name them. Do not worry. Here is the list.:1. Royal Challengers Bangalore2. Deccan Chargers Hyderabad3. Delhi Dare Devils4. New South Wales Blues (Aus)5. Victorian Bush Rangers (Aus)6. Cape Cobras (SA)7. Diamond Eagles (SA)8. Otago Volts (NZ)9. Sussex Sharks (Eng)10. Somerset Sabres (Eng)11. Trinidad & Tobago (WI) and12. Wayamba (SL)Well, some players who performed very well in the inaugural IPL would be missing – yes that of our neighbours - Sialkot Stallions who were the winners the Pak’s domestic T20 and who were to take part but will not be playing here in tune with the Govt. Policy. The three Indian teams – RCB, DC & DD do not need any introduction. For the rest, here is something :4) New South Wales Blues are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales and compete in Sheffield Shield, Ford Ranger Cup, and KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.5) Victorian Bushrangers are also from the land of OZ, based in Melbourne. 6) Nashua Cape Cobras is the team from combined Western Province and Boland first class cricket teams in South African domestic cricket, hailing from Newlands, Capetown. 7) Gestetner Diamond Eagles is the team of combined Free State cricket team and Griqualand West first class cricket teams in South Africa, with home venue at Bloemfontein.8) Otago Volts is an association team from the land of Kiwis9) Sussex Sharks is one amongst the 18 major country clubs of English domestic cricket structure. Interestingly, Sussex won its first-ever official County Championship title in 2003 after a wait of more than 100 years.10) Somerset Sabres is another team from England for which once Ian Botham, Sunil Gavaskar and Vivian Richards played. This club is headquartered at Taunton. 11) Whilst most are club teams, here is a country which represents combined West Indies – the Trinidad and Tobago. This is an archipelagic state in the South Carribean and is a Nation. This country has an area of 5128 sq km. Of the two, Tobago islands are much smaller comprising of about 6% of total area and 4% of the entire population which is around 1.3 million. !!!!!!!12) Wayamba is from the land of Lankans The teams are grouped in to 4 in the initial league stage Group A : DC, Somerset, TrinidadGroup B : NSW, Diamond Eagles, SussexGroup C : RCB, Cape Cobras, Otago voltsGroup D : DD, Victoria, Wayamba.

Here is the schedule :

In the second round, the two qualifiers are divided in two leagues and would play two matches for qualifying for the Semis. The grand final will unfold at 8 pm on Oct 23 (Friday) at Hyderabad.With regardsS Sampathkumar.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Dear (s) I have been sending you the newsletter BLISS and by now you have had some introduction of SYMA, a social service organization rendering service for more than 3 decades. (Read more at http://www.syma.in/)Days of significance to the Nation are very important and we have been celebrating Indian Independence day by conduct of Eye camp. This year also we organized Cataract awareness camp in association with Lions Club and Sri Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal. More than 200 people registered, and after screening 25 persons underwent free cataract eye surgery at Pammal.

Presenting our September 2009 issue. Please view the same at : BLISS SEPT ISSUE http://syma.in/images/bliss/BLISS%20092009.pdfThis issue has a detailed write up on the Eye Camp and place on record our thanks for the great service rendered by Sri Sankara Eye Hospital. We also conducted an Asthma camp during Sept., details of which will find place in our next issue. This issue also contains something about - Is the epitaph of 50 over game being written ? - the naked aggression of China - Is the Indian Namaskar the best way viewing the hype behind Swine flu and where went the masks now ? - The Spelling Bee competition - What is great about this man – Dean Du Plessis - Do you know which teams fight for MJ Gopalan Trophy and its significance. Look forward to your feedback. With regards S Sampathkumar (Editor)

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Dear (s)30th Sept was phenomenal for the Sports lovers (read Cricket fans). Millions in the Nation sat glued to television – Star Sports.Well, ESPN and DD were telecasting live – West Indies battling India. The bowling exploits of Nehra were not the cynosure of eyes but elsewhere the game at Centurion – the match between Paki & Aussie were. Indian fans for once were wanting Pakis to win. Such was the depth that when Saeed Ajmal came back to bowl, my son cursed Younis stating that he would have preferred Umar Gul having a fling at Nathan Hauritz and ending the game. It was a great tense match.Chasing a modest 206 for a victory and easy entry in to Semis, Aussies started well, were 59 for 2 and cruised to 150 and were 157 for 3 in 36 overs which meant 49 runs in around 80 balls with 7 wickets in hand. Normally, Aussies would cruise but they survived a scare and Ponting had to chew many nails as then came the improbable Aussie middle order failure – Ferguson, Hyssey, Hopes, Cameron White all gone and Oz were tottering at 176-7 in 41.5 overs. Johnson left at 187 but Lee & Hauritz saw it through scampering a win off the last ball, as Indians waited with bated breath.It was really mesmerizing to see a comeback bowler playing his first international in 18 months claiming 2 in an excellent second spell and Saeed Ajmal throttling them with 2 for 31 in 10. Rana Naved at one stage conceded a solitary run from 3 overs at the death making the chase a nerve shredding climb. This win ended the Indian ICC Champions Trophy campaign with a first round elimination. Hours after came the consolation win over Windies at Johannesburg. Perhaps Indian never deserved to qualify for the Semis after the crippling loss to Pak in the opening match and dismal show against Aussies in the next. Ashish Nehra has been a revelation in his comeback but Ishant and Harbhajan disappointed. The weak Windies were subdued at 129 which were scored not so easily with Dinesh prodding and Virat making most of the given chance. The Indian players would head home early and will have some time off before the seven ODI home series against Aussie starting last week of this month. Some however, will take part in the Champion League representing their winning IPL teams. With regards - S Sampathkumar